But if the dictionaries say a blackbird is a type of thrush, then thrush for blackbird would be fine.

]]>By: redddevilhttp://www.fifteensquared.net/2012/06/16/independent-8004-by-radian/#comment-196907
Fri, 29 Jun 2012 08:32:37 +0000http://fifteensquared.net/?p=45428#comment-196907eimi – i Take your point on how genreal the definition is (Jackdaw and raven are also dictionary defined as crow variants) but would you have been equally happy to allow blackbird to clue thrush (or v.v.)?
My dictionary suggests you ought to be as it defines blackbird as “a type of thrush”.
]]>By: eimihttp://www.fifteensquared.net/2012/06/16/independent-8004-by-radian/#comment-196724
Tue, 26 Jun 2012 18:53:21 +0000http://fifteensquared.net/?p=45428#comment-196724It depends how narrowly you define crow – obviously if you’re using it to define any bird of the family Corvidae, then the clue is fine. I was surprised, but I do check these things and for rook, Chambers gives
“n a gregarious species of crow”
and COED
“a gregarious crow with black plumage and a bare face, nesting in colonies in treetops”
]]>By: redddevilhttp://www.fifteensquared.net/2012/06/16/independent-8004-by-radian/#comment-196719
Tue, 26 Jun 2012 17:53:57 +0000http://fifteensquared.net/?p=45428#comment-196719well there’s a pretty big overlap between blackbirds (Turdus merula) and thrushes ((Turdus philomelos) too but they’re still not the same and would hardly be interchangeable in a crossword clue methinks.
Rook (Coruvs frugilegus) and crow (Corvus corone corone) look similar but then so do ravens…
]]>By: nmsindyhttp://www.fifteensquared.net/2012/06/16/independent-8004-by-radian/#comment-196716
Tue, 26 Jun 2012 17:17:44 +0000http://fifteensquared.net/?p=45428#comment-196716Re reddevil at #11, I’m not an expert on birdlife at all but my dicts suggest a pretty big overlap at the very least between rooks and crows – looking at Collins and COED.
]]>By: redddevilhttp://www.fifteensquared.net/2012/06/16/independent-8004-by-radian/#comment-196714
Tue, 26 Jun 2012 16:55:28 +0000http://fifteensquared.net/?p=45428#comment-196714dialrib @ 8 rooks and crows are not the same so 24a is in fact a flawed clue.
]]>By: Paul Stevensonhttp://www.fifteensquared.net/2012/06/16/independent-8004-by-radian/#comment-196201
Mon, 18 Jun 2012 12:54:11 +0000http://fifteensquared.net/?p=45428#comment-196201I had assumed that 15d was rather ruder than the (plausible) theatre box explanation. The Chambers Dictionary I have on my phone lists the definition I had been thinking of for box as “The vagina (vulgar sl)”.
]]>By: MikeChttp://www.fifteensquared.net/2012/06/16/independent-8004-by-radian/#comment-196120
Sat, 16 Jun 2012 14:51:11 +0000http://fifteensquared.net/?p=45428#comment-196120Thanks Simon and Radian. An interesting, challenging puzzle. Re 15d, this link supports Thomas99@7:http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1259670/A-love-seat-fit-king-The-antique-chair-gives-eye-popping-insight-Edward-VIIs-debauched-youth.html
]]>By: dialribhttp://www.fifteensquared.net/2012/06/16/independent-8004-by-radian/#comment-196118
Sat, 16 Jun 2012 14:44:20 +0000http://fifteensquared.net/?p=45428#comment-196118Thanks, Simon.
I was surprised to find rooks are crows (24a) as I was taught ‘if you see a rook, it is a crow; if you see some crows, they are rooks’.
]]>By: Thomas99http://www.fifteensquared.net/2012/06/16/independent-8004-by-radian/#comment-196113
Sat, 16 Jun 2012 12:25:26 +0000http://fifteensquared.net/?p=45428#comment-196113lizard-
That’s what I was wondering. This site suggests something of the kind: “She [Sarah Bernhardt, no less] was one of the bevy of beauties seated in the King’s box at the Abbey during his coronation.”
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